Second Palestinian teenager shot by Israeli army within hours
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- Written by Toni O'Loughlin & Jonathan Steele, The Guardian Toni O'Loughlin & Jonathan Steele, The Guardian
- Published: 01 August 2008 01 August 2008
- Hits: 3522 3522
18-year-old boy brain dead after being shot in head
Incident occurred just hours after funeral of 10-year-old
Israel's army shot an 18-year-old Palestinian in the head in the West Bank town of Ni'ilin, just hours after the village buried a 10-year-old who had also been shot in the head by a soldier. Eyewitnesses said the 18-year-old, Ahmed Yousef Amirah, was shot at close range when a military jeep drove past and an officer fired three rubber bullets [typically, "plastic-coated steel bullets" - JFP] at him from within the vehicle.
It is the third incident this month in which Israel's military appears to have deliberately targeted a resident of Ni'ilin, where protests against Israel's West Bank barrier and violent clashes occur almost daily.
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Ni'ilin's residents said Amirah was not participating in the fighting but standing outside a house watching from a distance. But a spokesman for Israel's border police said it was unclear who shot Amirah. However, the border police will not investigate. "It's not our responsibility to investigate things like that," the spokesman said.
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But Israeli human rights group, B'Tselem, said the use of excessive force against protesters was a breach of international law and the military's own policies. "In this situation, even so-called less lethal crowd control weapons such as rubber bullets and tear gas have strict limitations on their use. Rubber bullets can be lethal when fired from less than 40 metres away," said B'Tselem's communications director, Sarit Michaeli.
The military's excessive use of force in the village was exposed last week when B'Tselem published a video showing a soldier shooting, at close range, the foot of a Palestinian man, who was blindfolded and cuffed.
Israeli Violence Targeting Children Under Occupation
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- Written by Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
- Published: 01 August 2008 01 August 2008
- Hits: 3661 3661
w w w . h a a r e t z . c o m
Last update - 07:14 30/07/2008
ANALYSIS: Israeli security forces losing control in the West Bank
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Recent protests around the village of Na'alin in opposition to the separation fence seem to show a loss of control. The death of a 9-year-old, apparently shot by a Border Policeman, is the most serious turn of events so far. Palestinian sources said the boy, Ahmed Moussa, was in the area of the clashes and was shot in the head; the Palestinian Authority's director of civil affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, and West Bank Civil Administration head Brig. Gen. Yoav Mordechai agreed that an Israel Defense Forces doctor would examine the boy's body to determine the circumstances of his death.
However, a series of events - the shooting of a bound Palestinian protester; two Military Police probes; and as of Tuesday the suspension of a battalion commander - show a worrying and dangerous downward spiral. The fact that these happenings are taking place under increased scrutiny by the international media encourages the opponents of the fence to ratchet up the conflict. Apparently, it also increases pressure on IDF officers, who are having difficulty keeping events in check.
Na'alin has in recent months become an arena of daily fighting as work on the fence there has damaged thousands of dunams of agricultural land owned by the villagers. The struggle against the fence is relatively violent, with dozens of Border Police and IDF soldiers injured by stones thrown at them.
The release by the human rights organization B'Tselem of video footage showing an Armored Corps battalion commander, Lt. Col. Omri Bruberg, holding a protester while a soldier shot him with a rubber bullet at a distance of about 1.5 meters, focused media attention on protest and ignited an embarrassing battle of versions between the battalion commander and the soldier, his direct subordinate. Following the Military Police probe, a polygraph test and leaks to the press, GOC Northern Command Gad Eisenkot (Bruberg's commanding officer) gave the necessary, if belated, order to send the officer on leave until the investigation is concluded.
Read more: Israeli Violence Targeting Children Under Occupation
The Rev. Naim Ateek guest preacher in Portland, Sunday, August 3rd
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- Written by Friends of Sabeel Friends of Sabeel
- Published: 01 August 2008 01 August 2008
- Hits: 3764 3764
The Rev. Naim Ateek, founder and director of The Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, will be the guest preacher:
Sunday, August 3, at the 9:00 am and 10:30 a.m. worship services
Westminster Presbyterian Church
1624 NE Hancock
Portland, Oregon
The Rev. Canon Naim Ateek will be in Portland for the Friends of Sabeel-North America leadership retreat, a planning meeting of volunteer leaders representing groups from major cities around the U.S. The volunteer leaders plan and organize regional Sabeel conferences and educational work in their area churches on issues affecting Palestinian Christians and efforts to promote an understanding of the political realities of the Holy Land.
Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among Palestinian Christians that seeks to deepen their faith and promote unity among them toward social action. Sabeel strives to develop a spirituality based on love, justice, peace, nonviolence, liberation and reconciliation for the different national and faith communities.
Setting Sail on August 5th 2008 to Break the Siege of Gaza
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- Written by The Free Gaza Movement UK The Free Gaza Movement UK
- Published: 26 July 2008 26 July 2008
- Hits: 4671 4671
The Free Gaza Movement UK
For Immediate Release
Setting Sail on August 5th 2008 to Break the Siege of Gaza
Around 60 Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals from 15 countries will sail to the Gaza Strip to deliver medical equipment on August 5th 2008. The delivery to Gaza Port of desperately needed medical supplies will be the first international cargo to reach Gaza directly since the crushing embargo on its civilians began.
Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein is one of those who has courageously agreed to go aboard, seizing what she describes as “an opportunity to make a change for good, both for Palestinians and Israelis. We intend to open the port, fish with the fishermen, help in the clinics, and work in the schools. But we also intend to remind the world that we will not stand by and watch 1.5 million people suffer death by starvation and disease”.
Naim Franjieh, survivor of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), will join Hedy on the boat : “My parents fled Palestine in 1948 when I was three years old,” he says “I want to be there, on the boat, to tell the people of Gaza they are not forgotten by those of us who have left.”
The boat’s cargo includes hearing aids for the children of Gaza. These desperately needed items have been blocked by the Israeli authorities, causing serious damage to all aspects of the livelihood, education and well-being of children with hearing difficulties.
In his letter of support for the voyage, Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated “Peace and security, we discovered in South Africa, do not come through the barrel of a gun...I support the boat convoy in its attempt to bring on-going humanitarian relief to the people of Gaza”. The Carter Center is also backing the voyage.
Ten of the 60 Campaigners are from the UK and Ireland.
A Press Conference will be held at 11am on the 4th August 2008 at the Arab British Chamber of Commerce (43 Upper Grosvenor Street, London. W1K 2NJ.)
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The Free Gaza Movement, UK
Phone: 07832255713
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www.freegaza.org
Free Gaza Movement Mission Statement
“We want to break the siege of Gaza. We want to raise international awareness about the prison-like closure of the Gaza Strip and pressure the international community to review its sanctions policy and end its support for continued Israeli occupation. We want to uphold Palestine's right to welcome internationals as visitors, human rights observers, humanitarian aid workers, journalists, or otherwise.”
For a full list of endorsements please visit: http://freegaza.org/index.php?language=EN&module=endorsers
Israel set to build new settlement in West Bank
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- Written by Associated Press on MSNBC Associated Press on MSNBC
- Published: 24 July 2008 24 July 2008
- Hits: 3814 3814
Palestinians call for U.S. intervention, warn plan will damage peace process
JERUSALEM - A key committee has approved construction of the first new Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a decade, an Israeli official said Thursday. The news infuriated Palestinians, who said the decision could cripple peace efforts.
The only hurdle that remains is Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who plans to approve the Maskiot settlement within weeks, the official said. Barak had signaled to the national planning committee that it should authorize the plan, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the Defense Ministry did not officially announce the settlement would be built in the Jordan Valley Rift, an arid north-south strip that forms Israel's eastern flank with Jordan.
Asked why Israel was moving ahead with the politically charged plan, the official said that it has been in the pipeline for years.